Steering-wheel rim.



O. W. EASTBURN, JR.

STEERING WHEEL RIM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3, 1915 1,214,288. Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

rfffJF/VEK OLIVER W. EASTBURN, JE.., OF KENNETT SQUARE, PENNSYLVANIA.

STEERINGJWHEEL RIM.

arissa.

Application filed March 3, 1916.

To all whom 2'25 may concern Be it known that I, OLIVER "W. EAsTnURN, Jr., a. citizen of the United States, residing at Kennett Square, county of Chester, and State of Pennsylvania, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Steering-Wheel Rims, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.-

The object ofmyinvention is to provide a rim for a steering wheel whichhas all the advantages ofthe ordinary wooden steering wheel-rim and which has also certain additional advantages, such as greater strength and durability, inferior cost, and absolute durability of color.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood-T append hereto drawings of the article in-the several stages of its manufacture, accompanied by diagrams of certain-mechanism-which may be utilized to facilitate its manufacture.

In these drawings. Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a method of manufacture. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the form produced by the process of Fig. 1..

Fig. 3 is a cross section through one of the annular rings. Fig. 4 shows in section the same ring in a finished form. Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the finished rim as used in a hand wheel.

In carrying out my invention I utilize a known article of manufacture, namely, what is known in the art as continuous vulcanized fiber paper a. which is marketed in rolls as shown in Fig. 1. The paper that I prefer to use is of the thickness of .010 or .012 of an inch. As is well known. this paper is manufactured from somewhat thinner cotton pulp paper, which is treated first with chlorid of zinc and is then vulcanized by passing between heat-ed rolls and wound and laminated upon one of the rolls. The mode of manufacture of the vulcanized fiber paper is not, however, part of my invention; reference thereto being made to more clearly identify the paper to those skilled in the art.

The vulcanized fiber paper a is unwound from the roll and passed over a device which applies adhesive material to one face thereof. This adhesive material, may be ordinary glue, silicate of soda, shellac, or any other suitable cementitious substance. In the drawings, the glue-applying device is shown as a tank 6 containing a pair of con- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

Serial No. 81,978.

tactin rolls 0 0 the'lower of which exb 7 7 tends into the due while the u oer one a 23 plies the glue tothe traveling sheet or strip of paper. The paper so treated is then carried along and is wound under tension upon a rotatable and collapsible mandrel (Z, until enough layers of thepaper are built up to form a tube 6 of (say) one inch and a half withdrawn from the mandrel and cross-- vcut to form a series of rings each of a' width in cross section corresponding to the desired maximum thickness of the steering wheel I rim.

Each ring is necessarily recta-ngnlar in cross-section as shown in Fig. 3. By sultable cutting tools the cornersof the ring 'are' cut away until the ring has assumed a substantialiy oval shape in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 4. Thus the rim 9 of the steering wheel is finally shaped. Subsequently the rim 9 is applied to the metal spokes or spider h of the wheel in any desired manner, as, for example, by screws 2' passing through the spider into the rim. as shown in Fig. 5.

The fiber paper a will be of a color corresponding to the desired color of the finished rim. This color necessarily permeates the finished rim and hence prolonged use of, and frictional action upon, the rim cannot affect the color, which is absolutely permanent.

The finished rim resists far better than .wood ordinary or unusual strains or stresses and cannot so readily be cut or indented;

It cannot splinter and it necessarily presents a permanent smooth surface to the hand of the operator. It can be manufactured more cheaply than the ordinary wooden rim and possesses all of the desirable qualities of 1 a snfiicient length of paper between the shellac bath and the mandrel to give ample time for drying the shellac, the drying operation being facilitated by passing a current of dry air over the shellacked surface of the paper. The subsequent operations to which the paper is subjected are the same as hereinbefore described, and, in fact, there is practically no difi'erence between the process of making rims from wood pulp or other ordinary paper of commerce and the process of making rims from vulcanized fiber paper.

A steering wheel made from ordinary paper has practically all the advantages of the vulcanized fiber paper ring except that it is inferior in strength, although in this respect it is far superior to the ordinary wooden rim. c

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters'Patent is:

1. steering wheel rim comprising a multitude of adhesively united layers of paper extending substantially circumferentially of the rim, each layer extending throughout its width concentric with the axis of the rim, the layers nearer the outer and inner Wall of the rim being narrower than the intermediate layers.

2. A steering wheel rim comprising a continuous sheet of paper wound spirally around the axis of the rim, forming a multitude of superimposed layers, said layers being maintained in the undisturbed concentric relation in which they are wound but cut away along the corners to form a ring substantially oval in cross-section.

3. A steering wheel rim comprising a continuous sheet of paper wound spirally about the axis of the rim to form a multitude of superimposed layers, the width of successive layers gradually increasing from the inner and outer walls of the rim toward its circumferential axis and adjacent layers being adhesively united.

4:. A steering wheel rim comprising a continuous sheet of vulcanized fiber paper wound spirally about the axis of the rim to form a multitude of superimposed layers, adjacent layers being adhesively united and the widths of successive layers gradually increasing from the inner and outer walls of the rim toward the circumferential axis thereof.

In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand, at Philada., Penna, on this 28th day of February, 1916.

OLIVER W. EASTBURN, JR.

flopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of new,

Washington,]) 0." 

